The deadline for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 24th annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition is May 1, 2009. Entries must be postmarked by May 1 or submitted online by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on May 1.
As per the Academy's press release, "the program is open to screenwriters who have not earned more than $5,000 writing fictional work for film or television. Entry scripts must be feature length and the original work of a sole author or of exactly two collaborative authors. The scripts must have been written originally in English. Adaptations and translated scripts are not eligible. Up to five $30,000 fellowships are awarded each year."
Several past Nicholl fellows have gone on to successful screenwriting careers, including Doug Atchison (Akeelah and the Bee), Ehren Kruger (Reindeer Games, Scream 3), and Andrew Marlowe (Air Force One).
Returning as Nicholl Committee Chair is 1992 Nicholl fellow Susannah Grant, who wrote the The Soloist, opening nationwide on Friday. Grant also wrote and directed Catch and Release (2007), shared writing credit on Charlotte’s Web (2006), adapted In Her Shoes (2005), and in 2000 received an Academy Award nomination for Erin Brockovich. Grant’s writing credits also include 28 Days, Ever After and Pocahontas.
Since the program’s inception in 1985, 108 fellowships have been awarded.
Application information is available now on the Academy’s Web site at www.oscars.org/nicholl.